Mr. Steven A. Williams, Director
United States Fish and Wildlife Service

Dr. William T. Hogarth, Director
NOAA Fisheries

November 12, 2004

Dear Secretaries Norton and Evans
and Directors Williams and Hogarth,

Pursuant to the United States Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544,
petitioners Timothy Allan Watts of South Middleborough, Massachusetts and
Douglas Harold Watts of Augusta, Maine submit the following Petition and
Appendices to the Departments of Interior and Commerce to list the American eel
(Anguilla rostrata) as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
This petition is filed under 5 U.S.C. § 553(3) and 50 C.F.R. part 424.14.

Petition to List the American Eel as an Endangered Species
Pursuant to the United States Endangered Species Act
16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 - 1544.

PETITIONERS:

Timothy Allan Watts
633 Wareham Street
South Middleborough, MA 02346

Douglas Harold Watts
P.O. Box 2473
Augusta, ME 04338

Petitioners request the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) list the American eel (Anguilla
rostrata) as endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act, 16
U.S.C. §§ 1531 - 1544. This petition is filed under 5 U.S.C. § 553(e) and 50
C.F.R. part 424.14.

I. STATUS OF THE AMERICAN EEL

The American eel is in steep decline across its range in the United States of
America. This petition summarizes the natural history of the American eel and
their cultural use; population information on the American eel; a description of
existing threats to the American eel and their habitat. Petitioners are seeking
listing of the American eel as endangered under the United States Endangered
Species Act.

A. Life History of the American Eel

Morgan (1930) states:

"American eel are snake-like fishes which live in fresh water from their early
youth to breeding time and then migrate into salt water, never to return again.
The eels which come up the streams are the young ones of another generation
which have traveled the long and unknown way from the sea.

"Full grown eels are about three feet long, plain colored, greenish brown above
and pale greenish gray beneath. Every inch of their bodies is sinuous and
flexible, well earning the phrase 'squirms like an eel.'

"During their freshwater sojourn eels usually live on the muddy bottoms of
streams or in stream fed ponds. Although they generally seek deep streams they
often work their way up brooks along the coast. It is a surprising but not a
unique experience to catch an eel on the hook which is meant for a brook trout.
Sometimes eels come out of the water and hide under muddy stones in swampy
ground a few feet from the shores and they have been seen foraging on the sand
along the stream sides. Eels eat almost any animals dead or alive -- insect,
fishes, frogs and water-rats -- as well as aquatic plants.

"The life history of eels was not completely known until 1925 when Schmidt
published his studies of both American and European species. The breeding place
of American eels appears to be north of the West Indies, west and south of the
regions where European eels breed. Eels spawn in deep waters and their eggs
hatch into transparent floating larvae. American eels keep their larval form for
about a year during which they drift near the surface. Then they are caught in
the current of the Gulf Stream and carried toward the American coasts. Only when
they near the coastal waters, at a depth of 3,000 feet or less, do they begin to
take on the shape of adult eels. Finally small eels but two or three inches long
begin to come up the rivers in great numbers. In Rhode Island young eels go up
the Taunton River through April and May; in some other rivers they appear later;
in many of them, thousands can be seen on the mud flats at river mouths when the
tide is out. Like lampreys they rest by day and travel by night, with unbroken
persistence working their way up toward the regions forsaken by their parents.
Only the females persevere to the headwaters; the males stay in the lower parts
of the stream. They live in these places for a number of years and then another
change comes over them. They cease eating, their skins turn white and shimmering
and they begin their long journey to the sea. These are the 'silver eels' which
are caught in traps, as they journey downstream, resting by day and moving by
night. Size -- three to four feet."

American eel are among the longest-living animals in North America and one of
longest-living fishes of North America. Female American eel in northern
latitudes reach ages of 20-50 years old before their sole spawning migration to
the Sargasso Sea. A record exists of an American eel living 88 years in
captivity (Gail Wippelhauser, Maine Department of Marine Resources, personal
communication to Douglas Watts, 1996).

The executive summary of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's
Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Eel (2000) states:

"The American eel occupies and is exploited in fresh, brackish and coastal
waters along the Atlantic from the southern tip of Greenland to northeastern
South America. The species has a catadromous life cycle, reproducing only in the
Sargasso Sea and spending the majority of its life in freshwater. After hatching
and ocean drift, initially in the pre-larval state and then in the leptocephalus
phase, metamorphosis occurs. In most areas, glass eel enter the nearshore area,
although there have been reports of leptocephalus found in freshwater. Glass
eel, elvers, yellow and silver eel are found in the marine environment during
part of their life cycle. Elvers, yellow eels and silver eel also make extensive
use of freshwater systems."

The full text of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Interstate
Fishery Management Plan for American Eel (2000) provides a detailed description
of what is currently known of the life history, habits and habitat requirements
of the American eel. This Plan is included with this petition as Appendix A and
its contents are incorporated into this petition by reference.

B. Use of American Eel by Humans

Humans have watched, caught and eaten American eel living in the waters of
United States of America since the last Ice Age.

In 1991, a prehistoric wooden-stake fish weir was discovered at the mouth of
Alder Stream on Sebasticook Lake in Newport, Maine. Radio-carbon dating of the
wooden stakes by archaeologists with the University of Maine at Farmington
revealed the sharpened wooden stakes of the fish weir range in age from 5,800 to
1,700 years old. The Sebasticook Lake fish weir is the oldest known fish weir in
North America (Bruce Bourque, Chief Archaeologist, Maine State Museum, personal
communication to Douglas Watts, October 2004).

The location of the Sebasticook Lake fish weir, at the mouth of Alder Stream,
suggests it was used to capture female American eels during their fall migration
to the Sebasticook River, the Kennebec River and the Atlantic Ocean. Since the
18th century, a rapids at the end of a long deadwater on the Sebasticook River
in Burnham, Maine is called "Eel Weir Rips" due to long-term use of the site to
catch female American eels during their migration to the Atlantic Ocean.

The downstream "V" orientation of a prehistoric stone fish weir on the Satucket
River in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts suggests it was used by Native
Americans to capture female American eels moving downstream from Monponsett and
Robbins Ponds during their fall migration to Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic
Ocean. Lithic artifacts found at the weir by archaeologists with Bridgewater
State College date the Satucket River stone fish weir to 2,500 B.P.

Dohne (2004) states of the Susquehanna River:

"Long before the rivers were dammed and polluted by the white man, the American
Indians were well-acquainted with the autumn migration of the eel. Swatara, as
in Swatara Twp. and Swatara Creek, is the anglicized word for a Susquehannock
Indian term meaning "where we eat eels." With a caloric value six times that of
any other freshwater fish, the eel was a prized catch, tasting somewhat like
chicken, though quite bony. It was
smoked for winter and "travel" rations. Weirs, or V-shaped rock formations
pointing downriver, were fashioned to funnel migrating adult eels into
basketlike traps. In some stretches of the lower Susquehanna, remnants of weirs
can be spotted during low-water
conditions."

Eckstorm (1938) states that Kenduskeag Stream, a tributary of the Penobscot
River entering tidal waters at Bangor, Maine receives its name as an "eel
spearing place" in the Penobscot Indian language. Eckstorm states the name of
tidal stream on the Kennebec River in Pittston, Maine -- Nehumkeag Brook -- has
a similar derivation and meaning.

ASMFC (2000) states: "Since the early 17th century, Native Americans have
harvested eel for food and cultural sustenance. Today, commercial and
recreational fisheries for American eel are seasonal, but remain economically
important by providing both direct and indirect employment ... Since the
fishery's peak in the mid 1970s at 3.5 million pounds, commercial landings have
declined significantly to a near record low of 868,215 pounds in 2001.
Recreational data concerning eel harvest appears to indicate a decline in
abundance. According to the NMFS Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics
Survey, recreational harvest in 2001 was 10,805 eel, a significant decrease from
the peak of 106,968 eel in 1982."

ASMFC (2000) further states: "Harvest pressure and habitat loss are listed as
the primary causes of any possible historic and recent decline in abundance of
American eel (Castonguay et al. 1994a and 1994b). Several factors contribute to
the risk that heavy harvest may adversely affect eel populations: (1) American
eel mature slowly, requiring 7 to 30+ years to attain sexual maturity; (2) glass
eel aggregate seasonally to migrate; (3) yellow eel harvest is cumulative
stress, over multiple years, on the same year class; and (4) all eel mortality
is pre-spawning mortality."

C. Population Status of American Eel

The American eel is in steep decline across its range in the United States of
America. Juvenile recruitment to the St. Lawrence River system and Lake Ontario
has virtually ceased during the past decade. The number of juvenile eels
migrating into the St. Lawrence River has fallen from 935,000 individuals in
1985 to approximately 8,000 in 1993 and to levels approaching zero in recent
years (ASMFC 2000).

Dohne (2004) states: "Lake Ontario, which had as many as 10 million eels two
decades ago, now holds only tens of thousands, according to Ontario's Ministry
of Natural Resources. The Ministry says Ontario's commercial eel harvest peaked
at more than 500,000 pounds in 1978. Last year's take was a fraction of that, or
30,000 pounds. Ontario officials blame the eel's plight on overharvesting,
migration barriers, climate conditions and hydro-dam turbines. Monitoring of St.
Lawrence River hydro dams reveals that 46 percent of adult eels exit the
turbines dead."

The number of juvenile eels counted annually at the Conowingo Dam on the
Susquehanna River has declined from a peak of 126,543 in 1974 to nearly zero in
recent years (ASMFC 2000). At the November 18, 2002 meeting of the ASMFC Eel
Management Board, Mr. Richard Snyder, ASMFC representative for Pennsylvania,
stated: "No American eels really pass the Conowingo Fish Lift, based on the
annual samplings there lately."

U.S. harvests of American eel on the Atlantic Coast have declined 64 percent of
the long-term average since 1950; almost 44 percent below the 20-year average;
and about 30 percent below the five year average, based on 2002 harvest reports
collected by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Geer 2004).

ASMFC (2000) states:

"Harvest pressure and habitat loss are listed as the primary causes of any
possible historic and recent decline in abundance of American eel (Castonguay et
al. 1994a and 1994b). Several factors contribute to the risk that heavy harvest
may adversely affect eel populations: (1) American eel mature slowly, requiring
7 to 30+ years to attain sexual maturity; (2) glass eel aggregate seasonally to
migrate; (3) yellow eel harvest is cumulative stress, over multiple years, on
the same year class; and (4) all eel mortality is pre-spawning mortality.
Habitat losses have been a chronic problem since the arrival of the Europeans.
Blockage of stream access, pollution and nearshore habitat destruction limit
habitat availability for eel. Castonguay et al. (1994b) indicated that oceanic
changes may now also contribute to decline in eel abundance. Busch et al. (1998)
estimated that diadromous fish, dependent on access to Atlantic coastal
watersheds, may be hindered from reaching up to 84 percent of upstream
habitats."

This declaration was written at the 2003 International Eel Symposium, held in
conjunction with the 2003 American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Quebec,
Canada, 14 August, 2003. The Declaration states:

"The steep decline in populations of eels endangers the future of these
legendary fish. With less than 1 percent of major juvenile resources remaining,
precautionary efforts must be taken immediately to sustain these stocks. In
recent decades, juvenile abundance has declined dramatically; by 99 percent for
the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and by 80 percent for the Japanese eel (Anguilla
japonica). Recruitment of American eel (Anguilla rostrata) to Lake Ontario, near
the species' northern limit, has virtually ceased.

"Eels, which depend on freshwater and estuarine habitats for their juvenile
growth phase, anthropogenic impacts (e.g. pollution, habitat loss and migration
barriers, fisheries) are considerable and may well have been instrumental in
prompting these declines. Loss of eel resources will represent a loss of
biodiversity but will also have considerable impact on socioeconomics of rural
areas, where eel fishing still constitutes a cultural tradition. Research is
underway to develop a comprehensive and effective restoration plan. This,
however, will require time. The urgent concern is that the rate of decline
necessitates swifter protective measures. As scientists in eel biology from 18
countries assembled at the International Eel Symposium 2003 organized in
conjunction with the 2003 American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in Quebec,
Canada, we unanimously agree that we must raise an urgent alarm now. With less
than 1 percent of juvenile resources remaining for major populations, time is
running out. Precautionary action (e.g., curtailing exploitation, safeguarding
migration routes and wetlands, improving access to lost habitats) can and must
be taken immediately by all parties involved and, if necessary, independently of
each other. Otherwise opportunities to protect these species and study their
biology and the cause of their decline will fade along with the stocks."

According to official minutes of the March 29, 2004 meeting of the American Eel
Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in
Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Patrick Geer, Technical Committee chairman of the
American Eel Management Board, stated:

"You can see, basically, they've had very little or no recruitment for the last
nearly ten years at this point [in the St. Lawrence River system]. Typically,
when the eels get to this area on the St. Lawrence River, they're five to seven
years old. They're noticing in the last few years they're getting much older
than that, so they're speculating they're having a failure of recruitment to the
St. Lawrence system."

"Dr. Casselman [Dr. John Casselman of the Canada Department of Fisheries and
Ocean] also performed a trend analysis on the U.S. landings and grouped states
accordingly. He broke them up into southern states, central states and northern
states. You can see that the landings are down as well for each one of these
regions."

"The Mid-Atlantic states or the central states, as he calls it, is basically the
only, what you may consider, a healthy fishery at this point. The northern and
southern states have seen major declines."

"One of the tech members actually commented, 'It's pretty bad when someone who
doesn't live in your country has to analyze your data and tell you what's
wrong.' I think this kind of points that out."

"Bob Lang [member, Great Lakes Fisheries Commission] also went on to encourage
the Great Lakes basin states and provinces that have jurisdiction over
activities that kill eels, either by direct fishing mortality or through
hydroelectric dams -- they're passing through the turbines -- to restrict such
activities to the maximum extent practicable."

"U.S. landings on the Atlantic Coast are down about 64 percent of the long-term
average back to 1950, almost 44 percent below the 20-year average and about 30
percent below the five year average. This is from 2002 landings reports."

At the same March 29, 2004 meeting of the American Eel Management Board of the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Mr. Gordon Colvin, the New York
representative to the ASMFC, stated:

"I believe it would be appropriate for the board, and frankly, for the
Commission to express support to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and to the
NMFS to undertake a review to consider and evaluate the appropriateness of
listing at least the Distinct Population Segment in the Great Lakes/St.
Lawrence/Lake Champlain/Richelieu River drainages for listing under the US ESA,
just as Canada is undertaking with respect to SARA.

"I would even go so far as to suggest that in the process of that review, that
the services consider a broader look at eel resources in the United States,
particularly in light of the fact that if the hypothesis suggested by Dr. John
Casselman and others, that a very substantial proportion of large female eels
that constitute perhaps as much as the majority or the bulk of the female
spawners for this panmictic population are vulnerable to recruitment failure in
the St. Lawrence system, that all of our resources may be at risk as a result of
that, and it's only a matter of time, if we're not already there.

"As has been indicated, that [St. Lawrence] population segment of eels is
absolutely in recruitment failure. There has essentially been no recruitment for
a decade, but there are still eels in the system. There are many year classes of
adult eels in the system.

"They are subject to mortality, particularly as they out-migrate thought the
hydroelectric dams on the St. Lawrence River and through commercial intercept
fisheries further down the river, mainly in Quebec."

"Therefore there is some necessity, I think, perceived by the Canadian fisheries
authorities to address these sources of mortality in that those out-migrating
females may be all that they have left, given that there's ten missing year
classes or so in the system now, and they want to maintain what they can get.
Those eels are important to us, because they may well be, to put it simply, the
mothers of most of our eels, too."

At the same March 29, 2004 meeting of the American Eel Management Board of the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Mr. Lewis Flagg, the Maine
representative of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, stated:

"It seems to me that from the Technical Committee's presentation, that there is
a pretty serious resource problem out there, not just for Canada but for the
states also, so since the commission does have an American Eel Management Plan,
I think it does demand our attention."

At the same March 29, 2004 meeting of the American Eel Management Board of the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Mr. Eric Smith, the Connecticut
representative of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, stated:

"I just want to see that the issue doesn't languish until such time as five
years from now, we say, okay, now we've got some landings [data] and can deal
with it. This thing has been troubling for some time now that you look at the
slides."

On March 10, 2004 the American Eel Management Board of the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) issued a press release recommending the
protection of American eel under the United States Endangered Species Act. The
statement reads in part:

"Canadian and US data show 2003 commercial landings are the lowest on record
since 1945 and there are indications of localized recruitment failure in the
Lake Ontario/St. Lawrence River system. The International Eel Symposium at the
2003 American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting reported a worldwide decline of
eel populations, including the Atlantic coast stock of American eel ... The
Commission also recommended that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and
the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) consider American eel in the Lake
Ontario/St. Lawrence River/Lake Champlain/Richelieu River system as a candidate
for listing as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act.
The Board also recommended that the USFWS and NMFS consider designating the
entire coastwide stock as a candidate for listing under the ESA."

Despite this declaration in March 2004, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission has failed to reduce or prohibit the ongoing harvest of American eel
from the waters of the Atlantic seaboard of the United States of America.

D. Anthropogenic Impacts on American Eel

1. Upstream Passage at Dams

Female American eels spend most of their lives in freshwater habitat along the
Atlantic seaboard prior to returning to the Sargasso Sea to give birth. Safe and
efficient access for juvenile eels to their freshwater habitat is essential to
the survival of the American eel. Coastal river systems along the Atlantic
seaboard are the sole migratory pathways for female American eels to gain access
to their required freshwater habitat.

ASMFC (2000) states: "By region, the potential habitat loss [for American eel]
is greatest (91 percent) in the North Atlantic region (Maine to Connecticut)
where stream access is estimated to have been reduced from 111,482 kilometers to
10,349 kilometers of stream length. Stream habitat in the Mid Atlantic region
(New York through Virginia) is estimated to have been reduced from 199,312 km to
24,534 km of unobstructed stream length (88 percent loss). The stream habitat in
the South Atlantic region (North Carolina to Florida) is estimated to have
decreased from 246,007 km to 55,872 km of unobstructed stream access, a 77
percent loss."

"The most dramatic example of the decline of American eel abundance is dam
construction on the Susquehanna River. Prior to the completion of Conowingo and
three other mainstem dams in the 1920's, eels were common throughout the
Susquehanna basin and were popular with anglers. To estimate the number of eels
lost as a result of construction of Conowingo Dam, we used MBSS data on American
eels from the Lower Susquehanna basin and extrapolated it to the rest of the
basin above the dam. Our best conservative guess is that there are on the order
of 11 million fewer eels in the Susquehanna basin today than in the 1920s.

"The magnitude of this loss is corroborated by the decline in the eel weir
fishery in the Pennsylvania portion of the Susquehanna River. Before the
mainstem dams were constructed, the annual harvest of eels in the river was
nearly 1 million pounds. Since then, the annual harvest has been zero. Given the
longevity of eels in streams (up to 20 years or more) and their large size, the
loss of this species from streams above Conowingo Dam represents a significant
ecosystem-level impact. Because adult eels migrate to the Sargasso Sea to spawn
and die -- transporting their accumulated biomass and nutrient load out of
Chesapeake Bay -- the loss of eels has increased nutrient loads in the basin and
reduced them in the open ocean where they are more appreciated."

2. Downstream Passage at Dams

Female American eels spend 20 to 50 years in freshwater habitat along the
Atlantic seaboard before returning to the Sargasso Sea to give birth. Safe and
efficient access for pregnant female American eels from their freshwater habitat
to the Atlantic Ocean is essential for female American eel to give birth in the
Sargasso Sea. Coastal river systems along the Atlantic seaboard are the sole
migratory pathways for female American eels to gain access to their oceanic
spawning grounds.

Records of severe kills of female American eels by the turbines of
hydro-mechanical and hydroelectric dams exist since as early as the 1880s. A
corporate history of the S.D. Warren Paper Company describes severe kills of
female American eels at the company's dam at Ammoncongin Falls on the
Presumpscot River, Maine during the 1880s. The Presumpscot River is the outlet
of Sebago Lake, the second largest lake in Maine. The dam at the outlet of
Sebago Lake has long been called the Eel Weir Dam. The S.D. Warren corporate
history states at page 46:

"Water power had its peculiar troubles: every cold winter morning anchor ice
would clog in the intakes, and the mill would be down. Then when warm weather
came, the water would be full of eels and eels are fish with tough hides. The
blades of the water wheels would not chew them up and there are frequent entries
in the record stating the water supply had failed and the mill was down, because
the eels had stopped the wheels."

One hundred years later, a similar report was made in 1996 by the operator of
the Damariscotta Mills hydro-electric dam on the Damariscotta River in
Newcastle, Maine to Lewis Flagg of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. A
telephone record by Alex Hoar of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, dated March
30, 1996 states:

"Subject: Eels
Telephone Record.

Lew Flagg told me in a telephone conversation on Saturday night that eels had
stopped the project at Damariscotta Mills from operating and set off the alarm.
He was told this by the plant operator. The event happened in October. He said
the eels clogged the project as they were migrating downstream.

Alex Hoar."

Hydro-electric dams located on the coastal watersheds of the Atlantic seaboard
are a major source of mortality for female American eel as they attempt to
migrate from freshwater to the Sargasso Sea to give birth. Of 15,570 dams
blocking American eel habitat in the United States, Busch et al. (1998) reported
that 1,100 of these dams are used for hydroelectric power. To Petitioners'
knowledge, virtually none of these 1,100 hydroelectric dams provide safe passage
for migrating female American eel. As a result, downstream passage by female
American eels at these dams is via the project turbines, which results in the
death of virtually all female eels attempting to migrate.

Radio tagging studies of migrating female American by the Maine Department of
Marine Resources at two hydro-electric dams in Maine indicate nearly 100 percent
of adult female eels entering project turbines are killed or severely injured
and, therefore, unable to complete their spawning migration (MDMR 2002).

ASMFC (2000) states: "Downstream passage to the American eel's historic habitat
is just as important as successful upstream access. Therefore, turbine induced
mortality during downstream passage needs to be resolved since it impacts
prespawning adult silver eel."

A summary of two meetings held with Maine commercial eel fishermen in December,
1994 written by State of Maine fisheries biologist Frederick W. Kircheis states:

"Many eel harvesters commented on the loss of large numbers of migrating eels
at power generating turbines on rivers. Apparently eels are attracted to the
current drawn by the turbines while migrating at night. One eel weir operator
has, as result of legal action, an agreement with a dam operator to cease
generating after dark from mid-August to mid-October, the prime time for
migrating eels."

Petitioners have direct experience with the magnitude of mortality to female
American eel caused by hydro-electric dam turbines.

In recent years, severe kills of migrating adult American eel have been
repeatedly documented by the Petitioners and the Maine Department of Marine
Resources at the American Tissue hydro-electric dam on Cobbosseecontee Stream in
Gardiner, Maine. This stream is a major tributary of the Kennebec River located
25 miles below the confluence of the Sebasticook and Kennebec Rivers. Spillway
passage is available for American eel at the American Tissue Project. However,
annual fish kills of female American eel demonstrate that most migrating
American eel select the American Tissue Dam turbine intake as their migration
route, rather than the dam spillway. This has caused significant annual
entrainment and death of American eel in the project turbines since the dam was
redeveloped for hydroelectric power in 1978. In 2002 and 2003, American eel
kills at this dam were only stopped after protests by the Petitioners and others
forced the dam owner to institute dusk to dawn turbine shutdowns at the American
Tissue Project during the fall silver eel migration season.

Reconstruction of the Pumpkin Hill hydro-electric dam on the Passadumkeag River
in Lowell, Maine was documented to cause severe kills of migrating adult
American as soon as the project began operation in 1987. Commercial silver eel
harvests in the Passadumkeag River below the dam declined from a 16-year average
of 10,000 pounds per year to 2,500 pounds upon activation of the Pumpkin Hill
project turbines in 1987. The commercial eel fisherman, Mr. Gerald Crommett of
Passadumkeag, Maine, stated in a Nov. 4, 1987 letter to the Maine Department of
Marine Resources: "I feel the only eels we caught [this year] were from the
waters of Cold Stream Ponds, which are below the dam." Mr. Crommett further
stated: "We were never notified of the building of this dam in Lowell. The way
to overcome this problem would be to close the power dam down from Aug. 15 to
Oct. 15. We expect to be compensated for our loss from someone responsible for
this." After threats of legal action by Mr. Crommett, the dam owner began
evening turbine shutdowns at the Pumpkin Hill project during the fall eel
migration season.

Radio-tracking of adult American eels by the Maine Department of Marine
Resources just above the Lockwood hydro-electric project on the Kennebec River
during fall 2002 indicates that 40 percent or more of the adult American eel
attempting to migrate past the Lockwood Project each fall are entrained and
killed in the Lockwood Dam turbines, despite the availability of the project
spillway for passage (MDMR 2003).

Radio-tracking of adult female American eels by the Maine Department of Marine
Resources (Maine DMR) at the Benton Falls Project in 2000 and 2001 indicate more
than 50 percent of the migrating eels attempting to pass the Benton Falls
project are entrained and killed in the project turbines. The studies also found
that 100 percent of the eels entrained in the Benton Falls project turbines were
killed by them. In fall 2001, Maine DMR staff used an underwater videocamera at
the Benton Falls Project turbine outfall to attempt to locate two radio-tagged
eels which had passed through the Benton Falls Project turbines. The videocamera
revealed large numbers of dead eels and eel carcasses resting on the river
bottom at the turbine outfall. Maine DMR's 2001 study reported stated:

"DMR personnel attempted to recover these eels on five occasions (10/22, 10/26,
10/31, 11/2, 12/7). An underwater camera revealed a deep hole below the tailrace
that contained many portions of eel carcasses in various states of decay. It was
apparent these eels had been killed by turbine blades .... Based on two years
data, the surface bypass at Benton Falls is not efficient at passing eels."

In October 2004, Petitioners documented a large and severe kill of migrating
female American eel at the Benton Falls hydro-electric dam on the Sebasticook
River in Benton, Maine. The Sebasticook River is a large (970 square mile)
tributary of the Kennebec River.

The kill was first observed and documented by Douglas Watts of Friends of the
Kennebec Salmon at 6:45 a.m. on October 14, 2004. Mr. Watts observed and
photographed 25-30 large female American eels in various states of decomposition
on the river bottom immediately below the Benton Falls Project turbine outfall.
All of the eels bore wounds and injuries indicative of turbine blade strike (ie.
decapitation, severed and partially severed torsos). Most of the eels observed
were 3-4 feet in length. Four bald eagles were observed directly below the dam
actively feeding on decapitated eels. Mr. Watts collected two large freshly
killed eels to display for officials of the Maine Department of Environmental
Protection and the Maine Department of Marine Resources. During these collection
efforts, two employees of Benton Falls Associates working at the dam were shown
the eels by Mr. Watts. Mr. Watts informed the employees the decapitated eels had
been killed by the dam turbines and were just a small fraction of those he had
just observed lying dead on the river bottom below the dam. One Benton Falls
Associates employee told Mr. Watts the eels were killed by seagulls, not the dam
turbines. One employee informed Mr. Watts that he was trespassing. Project
turbines were running at the time of Mr. Watts' visit to the site and there was
no spill at the dam. All river flow was exiting through the project turbines and
the surface bypass for juvenile alewives and shad. Despite that the surface
bypass was in operation at the time of his visit, Mr. Watts observed and
photographed numerous freshly decapitated juvenile alewives below the dam as
well.

All photographs taken can be viewed at www.kennebecriver.org.

On Friday, October 15, 2004 Mr. Nathan Gray of the Maine Department of Marine
Resources accompanied Mr. Watts to the Benton Falls project to perform a more
thorough survey of the project tailrace for dead and injured American eel. Using
chest waders and dip nets, Mr. Gray and Mr. Watts surveyed the wadeable portions
of the Sebasticook River for a distance of approx. 300 yards below the Benton
Falls Project. The survey lasted approximately 90 minutes with visibility
hampered by dark, overcast skies. During the October 15 survey, Mr. Gray and Mr.
Watts captured several very large eels that had been struck by the dam turbines
the previous evening and were still barely alive but so wounded they could not
avoid being captured or swim correctly. These were eels that would not have been
killed had Mr. Calvin Neal of Benton Falls Associates shut down the project
turbines when first alerted to the killing of eels at the dam by Mr. Watts at 8
a.m. the day before.

Returned to the tailrace of Benton Fall Hydroelectric facility this PM with Doug
Watts after he reported a significant eel kill having happened sometime prior to
10/14/04. Using chest waders we inspected the tailrace outfall and found there
were at least a few hundred eels killed over the past few weeks. Eels ranged
from highly decomposed to cripples unable to
swim. A bald eagle was noted taking off with eel remains. Nearly all sections of
the tailrace that were wadeable contained the remains of adult eels that
appeared to have been killed by turbine blade strike. Calvin Neal, the station
operator had reduced flows to the turbine in order to more efficiently utilize
water resources in generating electricity. This may account for the eels that
were found that appeared whole but were nevertheless dead. On 10/14/04 I
performed a routine downstream inspection of the site and was informed by Mr.
Neal that a certain person in the form of Douglas Watts had come to the site and
was very upset that there were dead eels below the project. I asked Mr. Neal to
accompany me on an inspection walk down in the tail waters to see if there were
any eels or alewives that had been entrained and killed by the turbine. Viewing
conditions were less than ideal but I did note that there appeared to be a few
dead eels in the tailrace. One in particular was quite visible. Having no chest
waders with me I told Mr. Neal that I would return on 10/15/04 to confirm the
presence of the eel(s) in the project tailwaters. Mr. Watts visited the office
on the morning of 10/15/04 and told what he had seen below the Benton facility
so I asked him to accompany me to show me what he had seen. He did so. There
were more than he had seen the previous day. Below the rapids there is a large
fall-out pool and the bottom here showed eels in various states of decay from
very fresh to weeks old."

Immediately after this October 15, 2004 inspection, Mr. Gray informed Mr. Calvin
Neal, the dam operator, that the river bottom below the dam contained several
hundred dead eels which had been recently killed by the project turbines.
Despite being provided with this information, Mr. Neal did not offer to shut
down the project turbines.

On August 20, 2004 Petitioners filed a motion before the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission requesting the Commission require the Benton Falls Dam
owner to provide safe passage for female American eels at the dam during the
fall 2004 eel migration season. The Commission refused.

On October 16, 2004 Petitioners and Friends of Merrymeeting Bay filed complaints
before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of an ongoing severe kill of
female American eels at the dam and requested the Commission require the Benton
Falls dam owner provide safe passage for female American eels for the remainder
of the fall eel migration. The Commission refused.

On October 18, 2004 the State of Maine informed Petitioners it had no legal
authority to stop the ongoing killing of female American eel at the Benton Falls
dam.

On October 19, 2004 the State of Maine asked the Benton Falls dam owner, Arcadia
Energy of Atlanta, Georgia, to conduct voluntary evening turbine shutdowns at
the dam for the remainder of the fall 2004 American eel migration season. The
dam owner refused.

"We are committed to developing renewable hydroelectric power and green power
while responsibly guarding and maintaining precious natural resources."

The turbines of the Benton Falls dam have remained operating and killing
pregnant female American eels during the entire fall 2004 eel migration season,
as they have annually each fall since the Benton Falls dam went on-line in 1987.

Petitioners have been informed by staff of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that
large kills of migrating female American eel have been documented in recent
years by USFWS staff at the Holyoke Dam, the lowermost hydro-electric dam on the
Connecticut River (Alex Haro, USFWS, personal communication to Timothy A. Watts,
October 2004). The Connecticut River is the largest watershed in New England. To
the Petitioners knowledge, no provision for safe passage of migrating female
eels is provided at the Holyoke Dam or any other hydro-electric dam in the
Connecticut River watershed.

3. Toxic Contaminants

ASMFC (2000) states:

"American eel are benthic, long-lived and lipid rich. Therefore, American eel
can accumulate high concentrations of contaminants, potentially causing an
increased incidence of disease and reproductive impairment as is found in other
fish species (Couillard et al. 1997). An analysis of the contaminants in
migrating silver eel in the St. Lawrence River showed that the highest
concentrations of chemicals were in the gonads. Concentrations of PCB and DDT
were found to be 17% and 28% higher in the gonads than in the carcasses. The
chemical levels in the eggs could exceed the thresholds of toxicity for larvae.
Also, since the migrating females are not feeding, the chemical levels in the
eggs could be even higher at hatching, increasing the likelihood of toxicity to
the larvae (Hodsdon et al. 1994)."

4. Human Harvest

Throughout their range in North America and the United States of America,
American eel are intensively harvested at all life stages (glass eel, elver eel,
yellow eel and silver eel) upon their entering coastal and freshwater habitats
in the United States of America.

ASMFC (2000) states:

"Since the early 17th century, Native Americans have harvested eel for food and
cultural sustenance. Today, commercial and recreational fisheries for American
eel are seasonal, but remain economically important by providing both direct and
indirect employment ... Since the fishery's peak in the mid 1970s at 3.5 million
pounds, commercial landings have declined significantly to a near record low of
868,215 pounds in 2001. Recreational data concerning eel harvest appears to
indicate a decline in abundance. According to the NMFS Marine Recreational
Fisheries Statistics Survey, recreational harvest in 2001 was 10,805 eel, a
significant decrease from the peak of 106,968 eel in 1982."

Geer (2004) stated: "U.S. landings on the Atlantic Coast are down about 64
percent of the long-term average back to 1950, almost 44 percent below the
20-year average and about 30 percent below the five year average. This is based
on 2002 landings reports."

II. CRITERIA FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT LISTING.

USFWS and NMFS are required to determine, based solely on the basis of the best
scientific and commercial data available, whether a species is endangered or
threatened because of any of the following factors: (1) the present or
threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range;
(2) overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific or educational
purposes; (3) disease or predation; (4) the inadequacy of existing regulatory
mechanisms; or (5) other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued
existence. 16 U.S.C. §1533(a)(1) and 1533(b).

Petitioners provide evidence below showing that all of these factors are acting
in concert to cause the precipitous decline of American eel in the United States
of America, thus warranting the species' protection under 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 -
1544.

1. THE PRESENT OR THREATENED DESTRUCTION, MODIFICATION OR CURTAILMENT OF THE
SPECIES' HABITAT AND RANGE.

At least 84 percent of the freshwater habitat of the American eel in the United
States of America has been destroyed, modified or curtailed to the detriment of
the American eel's continued survival in the United States of America (ASMFC
2000).

Female American eels spend most of their lives in freshwater habitat along the
Atlantic seaboard prior to returning to the Sargasso Sea to give birth. Safe and
efficient access to and from their freshwater habitat is essential to the
survival of the American eel. Coastal river systems along the Atlantic seaboard
are the sole migratory pathways for female American eels to gain access to their
required freshwater habitat.

ASMFC (2000) states: "By region, the potential habitat loss [for American eel]
is greatest (91 percent) in the North Atlantic region (Maine to Connecticut)
where stream access is estimated to have been reduced from 111,482 kilometers to
10,349 kilometers of stream length. Stream habitat in the Mid Atlantic region
(New York through Virginia) is estimated to have been reduced from 199,312 km to
24,534 km of unobstructed stream length (88 percent loss). The stream habitat in
the South Atlantic region (North Carolina to Florida) is estimated to have
decreased from 246,007 km to 55,872 km of unobstructed stream access, a 77
percent loss.

Of 15,570 dams blocking American eel habitat in the United States, Busch et al.
(1998) reported that 1,100 of these dams are used for hydro-electric power.
Virtually none of these 1,100 hydro-electric dams provide, or are required to
provide, safe and efficient upstream and downstream passage for American eels to
utilize their historic freshwater habitat. Virtually none of the 14,470
non-hydroelectric dams reported by Busch et al. (1998) provide, or are required
to provide, safe and efficient upstream and downstream passage for American eels
to utilize their historic freshwater habitat.

"The most dramatic example of the decline of American eel abundance is dam
construction on the Susquehanna River. Prior to the completion of Conowingo and
three other mainstem dams in the 1920's, eels were common throughout the
Susquehanna basin and were popular with anglers. To estimate the number of eels
lost as a result of construction of Conowingo Dam, we used MBSS data on American
eels from the Lower Susquehanna basin and extrapolated it to the rest of the
basin above the dam. Our best conservative guess is that there are on the order
of 11 million fewer eels in the Susquehanna basin today than in the 1920s.

"The magnitude of this loss is corroborated by the decline in the eel weir
fishery in the Pennsylvania portion of the Susquehanna River. Before the
mainstem dams were constructed, the annual harvest of eels in the river was
nearly 1 million pounds. Since then, the annual harvest has been zero. Given the
longevity of eels in streams (up to 20 years or more) and their large size, the
loss of this species from streams above Conowingo Dam represents a significant
ecosystem-level impact. Because adult eels migrate to the Sargasso Sea to spawn
and die -- transporting their accumulated biomass and nutrient load out of
Chesapeake Bay -- the loss of eels has increased nutrient loads in the basin and
reduced them in the open ocean where they are more appreciated."

The number of juvenile eels counted annually at the Conowingo Dam on the
Susquehanna River has declined from a peak of 126,543 in 1974 to nearly zero in
recent years (ASMFC 2000). At the November 18, 2002 meeting of the ASMFC Eel
Management Board, Mr. Richard Snyder, ASMFC representative for Pennsylvania,
stated: "No American eels really pass the Conowingo Fish Lift, based on the
annual samplings there lately."

Dohne (2004) states: "As for elvers, the local evidence is equally thin but just
as bleak. At York Haven's dam -- whose fish ladder is the only one on the lower
Susquehanna to specifically monitor eel traffic -- no elvers appeared during
this spring's shad run (April through mid-June)."

It is undisputed that overutilization of American eel is now occurring across
the species' range in the United States of America. ASMFC (2000) states:
"Harvest pressure and habitat loss are listed as the primary causes of any
possible historic and recent decline in abundance of American eel (Castonguay et
al. 1994a and 1994b). Several factors contribute to the risk that heavy harvest
may adversely affect eel populations: (1) American eel mature slowly, requiring
7 to 30+ years to attain sexual maturity; (2) glass eel aggregate seasonally to
migrate; (3) yellow eel harvest is cumulative stress, over multiple years, on
the same year class; and (4) all eel mortality is pre-spawning mortality.

ASMFC (2000) further states: "Since the fishery's peak in the mid 1970s at 3.5
million pounds, commercial landings have declined significantly to a near record
low of 868,215 pounds in 2001. Recreational data concerning eel harvest appears
to indicate a decline in abundance. According to the NMFS Marine Recreational
Fisheries Statistics Survey, recreational harvest in 2001 was 10,805 eel, a
significant decrease from the peak of 106,968 eel in 1982."

Geer (2004) states: "U.S. landings on the Atlantic Coast are down about 64
percent of the long-term average back to 1950, almost 44 percent below the
20-year average and about 30 percent below the five year average. This is based
on 2002 landings reports."

Colvin (2004) states that the Province of Ontario intends to ban all harvest of
American eel in that portion of the St. Lawrence River system under its
jurisdiction due to juvenile recruitment failure to the St. Lawrence system
during the past decade.

Records of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) show the
Commission has failed to undertake similar protective measures for the remaining
American eels living along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States; nor has
the ASMFC taken any action to restrict or prohibit the ongoing harvest of
American eels along the Atlantic Seaboard during the past five years.

3. INADEQUACY OF EXISTING REGULATORY MECHANISMS

There are no regulatory mechanisms in the United States of America which
adequately protect the American eel from extinction.

a. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

Pursuant to Section 18 of the Federal Power Act, the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service has the legal authority to require the licensees of private
hydro-electric dams to provide safe and efficient upstream and downstream
passage for American eel at hydro-electric dams in the historic range of
American eel in the United States of America.

To date, the USFWS has declined to exercise this legal authority in order to
conserve the remaining American eels of the Atlantic seaboard of the United
States of America.

b. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

Pursuant to Section 18 of the Federal Power Act, the National Marine Fisheries
Service has the legal authority to require the licensees of private
hydro-electric dams to provide safe and efficient upstream and downstream
passage for American eel at hydro-electric dams in the historic range of
American eel in the United States of America.

To date, the NMFS has declined to exercise this legal authority in order to
conserve the remaining American eels of the Atlantic seaboard of the United
States of America.

c. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Pursuant to the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has
the legal authority to require licensees of private hydro-electric dams to
provide safe and efficient upstream and downstream passage for American eel at
hydro-electric dams in the historic range of American eel in the United States
of America.

To date, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has declined to exercise this
legal authority in order to conserve the remaining American eel stocks of the
Atlantic seaboard of the United States of America.

d. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)

Pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency has the legal authority to require the licensees of private
hydro-electric dams to provide safe and efficient upstream and downstream
passage for American eel at hydro-electric dams to allow these waters to meet
their designated uses for fishing and habitat for aquatic species as required
under the federal Clean Water Act.

To date, the U.S. EPA has declined to exercise this legal authority in order to
conserve the remaining American eels of the Atlantic seaboard of the United
States of America.

e. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC)

Pursuant to the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation Act, the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has the legal authority to limit or
prohibit the harvest of American eel along the Atlantic seaboard of the United
States.

To date, the ASMFC has declined to exercise this legal authority to conserve the
remaining American eels of the Atlantic seaboard of the United States of
America.

On March 10, 2004 the American Eel Management Board of the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) issued a press release recommending the
protection of American eel under the United States Endangered Species Act. The
statement reads in part:

"Canadian and US data show 2003 commercial landings are the lowest on record
since 1945 and there are indications of localized recruitment failure in the
Lake Ontario/St. Lawrence River system. The International Eel Symposium at the
2003 American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting reported a worldwide decline of
eel populations, including the Atlantic coast stock of American eel ... The
Commission also recommended that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and
the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) consider American eel in the Lake
Ontario/St. Lawrence River/Lake Champlain/Richelieu River system as a candidate
for listing as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act.
The Board also recommended that the USFWS and NMFS consider designating the
entire coastwide stock as a candidate for listing under the ESA."

Despite this statement in March 2004, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission has not reduced or prohibited the ongoing harvest of all life stages
of American eel from the waters of the Atlantic seaboard of the United States of
America.

f. The States of the Atlantic Seaboard

Petitioners reside in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Maine,
respectively.

In the State of Maine, the petitioners have in recent years repeatedly
documented and alerted State of Maine officials to severe kills of out-migrating
pregnant, female American eel at several hydro-electric dams in the State. The
cause of death of these eels is entrainment in hydro-electric dam turbines. This
entrainment and death is caused by the lack of safe passage for adult American
eels at these hydroelectric dams. Petitioners were informed by the State of
Maine on October 18, 2004 that these severe kills of female American eel are not
in violation of Maine law.

This determination is stated in an October 18, 2004 e-mail by Mr. Dana P. Murch
of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection:

It was acknowledged that the dam owner (Benton Falls Associates) is not
currently in violation of either its FERC license or its DEP water quality
certification for the project, both of which have eel passage provisions
based on the 1998 KHDG Agreement. Under the terms of the Agreement, DMR
is still studying "the appropriate permanent downstream eel passage
measures to apply" to the project.

Commissioner Lapointe will take the lead in requesting that the dam owner
voluntarily cease project generation at night during the eel migration
season. It will be acknowledged to the dam owner that this request goes
beyond the current requirements of the KHDG Agreement. If consensus is
not reached with the dam owner, DMR retains the option, under the KHDG
Agreement, of petitioning FERC to amend the project license to insert
appropriate conditions for eel passage.

Commissioner Lapointe will also take the lead in setting up a meeting with
the entire Maine hydro industry to discuss eel passage issues. I plan to
participate in this discussion.

Dana
------------

In June 2003, Petitioners successfully moved by hand and plastic shopping bag
more than 5,000 elver American eels over the impassable Fort Halifax Dam on the
Sebasticook River in Winslow, Maine. Several days later, Petitioners were told
by the Maine Department of Marine Resources their effort violated Maine law and
the Petitioners must cease their actions (Ms. Gail Wippelhauser, Maine
Department of Marine Resources, e-mail communication to Douglas H. Watts, June
2003)

Subsequent to this event, Petitioners were informed by the State of Maine in the
fall of 2003 and 2004 that severe kills of adult female eels at several
hydroelectric dams in Maine, documented and reported by the Petitioners, are
legal and allowable under Maine law.

During the past five years, Petitioners have directly observed and documented
the inability of hundreds of thousands of glass eels to pass the abandoned
Horseshoe Pond dam located in the tidal waters of the Weweantic River in
Wareham, Massachusetts. The Weweantic River is the largest freshwater tributary
of Buzzards Bay. Except during periods of exceptionally high tides, the
abandoned Horseshoe Pond dam blocks the migration of all native diadromous fish
species into the Weweantic River.

Over the past five years, Petitioners have repeatedly requested that officials
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts assert their statutory authority to require
the owner of the Horseshoe Pond dam to provide safe passage for American eel at
this dam. Officials of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have refused to do so.
Petitioners have similarly requested assistance from staff of the Buzzards Bay
Estuary Project, funded by the U.S. EPA, to encourage the owners of the
Horseshoe Pond dam to make the dam passable to American eel and other diadromous
fish. Despite having a mission statement to remove artificial obstructions from
the tidal waters of Buzzards Bay, officials of the Buzzards Bay Estuary Project
have repeatedly refused requests by Petitioners to address this key impediment
to the survival of the American eel in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts.

Petitioners are not aware of any instance in Maine or Massachusetts where these
States have required by law the safe and efficient passage of out-migrating
female American at non-hydroelectric dams in these States, despite fish passage
statutes which allow the States to make such requirements.

Petitioners are not aware of any instance in Maine or Massachusetts where these
States have required by law the safe and efficient passage of juvenile American
eel at non-hydroelectric dams in the state, despite fish passage statutes which
allow the States to make such requirements.

Petitioners are not aware of any Atlantic states other than Maine and
Massachusetts which have statutes requiring the safe and efficient passage of
juvenile American eel at non-hydroelectric dams; or the enforcement of such
statutes if they exist.

4. OTHER NATURAL OR MANMADE FACTORS AFFECTING ITS CONTINUED EXISTENCE.

ASMFC (2000) states:

"American eel are benthic, long-lived and lipid rich. Therefore, American eel
can accumulate high concentrations of contaminants, potentially causing an
increased incidence of disease and reproductive impairment as is found in other
fish species (Couillard et al. 1997). An analysis of the contaminants in
migrating silver eel in the St. Lawrence River showed that the highest
concentrations of chemicals were in the gonads. Concentrations of PCB and DDT
were found to be 17% and 28% higher in the gonads than in the carcasses. The
chemical levels in the eggs could exceed the thresholds of toxicity for larvae.
Also, since the migrating females are not feeding, the chemical levels in the
eggs could be even higher at hatching, increasing the likelihood of toxicity to
the larvae (Hodsdon et al. 1994)."

III. CONCLUSION

American eel are virtually unique from other animals in that they give birth
only once in their lives, in the Sargasso Sea. All American eels harvested each
year by humans have not yet given birth. All pregnant female American eels
killed and injured each fall in hydro-electric turbines will never give birth.
It is axiomatic that the only American eels which survive to give birth each
winter are those not harvested by humans or killed in the turbines of
hydro-electric dams.

The government of the United States and its agencies have the legal authority to
eliminate all mortality to American eels caused by human harvest and turbine
mortality at hydroelectric dams.

Under the authority of the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission can immediately stop the killing for adult female American eel in the
turbines of the 1,100 hydro-electric dams blocking the migration of American eel
in the United States of America.

Under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation Act, the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission can immediately prohibit the harvest
of American eel in the waters of the United States from Maine to Florida.

Neither federal entity has done so -- despite clear evidence these actions are
warranted by the precipitous decline of the American eel in North America.

The United States Congress and President Richard M. Nixon created the Endangered
Species Act as the last resort for animals and plants nearing extinction -- and
as the last resort for citizens of the United States trying to save their fellow
creatures from extinction.

The American eel is now in danger of extinction throughout its range in the
United States of America and, therefore, is endangered within the meaning of the
United States Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1532(6).

No adequate attempt to protect them was made until they practically had
disappeared. Whenever a law looking toward the conservation of these birds was
proposed in any State, its opponents argued before the legislative committees
that the Pigeons "needed no protection"; that their numbers were so vast, and
that they ranged over such a great extent of country, that they were simply able
to take care of themselves. This argument defeated all measures that might have
given adequate protection to this species. That is why extinction finally came
quickly. We did our best to exterminate both old and young, and we succeeded.
The explanation is so simple that all talk of "mystery" seems sadly out of place
here....